The Moon Song: November 2011

So far, although there have been many many many wonderful moments with my kids, my favorite moments have been watching Owen & Bodhi together. They are best buddies. Brothers who have each others' backs no matter what. Isn't that amazing? At the ages of two & four, they already have that instictive brotherly love. Don't get me wrong, there are also many (many) moments in which I wonder who will be in the hospital for their first set of stitches first, because their wrestling matches get a little heated...but for the most part, these two are partners in crime. Most of the time they are pretending to be Batman (Bodhi) & Spiderman (Owen), fighting the "bad guys" together. Other times, they are T-Rex's hunting their prey. But most typically, they are on the same team. I pray every night that they will always be this close.

Bodhi
Bodhi is talking in full paragraphs now. It's adorable because you can't always understand him, but he knows exactly what he's saying, with full expression every time. He knows what he wants, when he wants it, and fully expects you to respond immediately. His most common phrase right now is, "I do it! No help me!" (imagine in his raspy little voice)

When he doesn't get what he wants, he stomps over to the corner as though he's not speaking to you anymore, and then says, "I sad." (with his little bottom lip out, and his arms crossed)

He's this hilarious combination of a bossy little fireball blazing through our day in full force and a sweet cuddly bundle of joy who says things like, "I wuv you Mama, peez seep wif me." (aka, "I love you mama, please sleep with me.")

Today when Kipper was leaving for work, Bodhi said, "You go to wook my daddy?" Kipper said, "Yes my Bodhi." Bodhi's response was, "But I wuv you my daddy." (He refers to Kipper as "my daddy" in every sentence...not just "dad" or "daddy," always "my daddy.") Kipper and I looked at each other...both thinking it was his cutest moment yet. He melts our hearts in these moments, and I do believe God made him this cute so that we would be distracted from his frequent bossy nature. I also pray everyday that his sweet but strong disposition will serve him well in his life, and will work in his favor as an adult. We work hard to direct his powers to good not evil...we are trying to raise a superhero...not a villian!

As many of you know, Bodhi had a little surgery this month for a communicating hydrocele. It was quick and mostly painless, and he was back to his old self within 24 hours. The most stressful part about this was having to watch him fall asleep under anesthesia. Only one parent could go back for this part, so I went. I was carrying him, and the nurse led us into a huge metal room with six people standing around a huge surgery table with bright lights hanging above. It startled me to see so many people, such a big room and so many bright lights for my little 25-pound baby. The doctors and nurses had reviewed the plan with us many times prior to this moment, so when we walked in, they got right to it. They put a little rasberry scent in his oxygen mask, put it over his face, and sang "The Wheels on the Bus" for about 30 seconds. Bodhi slowly slumped over in my lap and fell asleep. Of course, this is when I began to cry. I had to lay him down on this huge metal table and leave the room. It was so hard to leave him there...my feet felt heavy, and I had a hard time walking out.

I kept repeating to myself that this was minor surgery compared to what many others were going through that day, and that our doctor has done this many many times. I prayed directly in that moment that all would go well, and he would wake up with no problems. I cried with Kipper for a few more minutes, and then we waited anxiously in the recovery area. It's amazing how such a small thing can seem so big in these moments. The anethesiologist came out to let us know he did great. He slept through his "anesthesia hangover" (some kids wake up crying through this) and the first words out of his mouth were, "I wanna eat." Just like that..he was back! He has healed perfectly, and doing great!

Bodhi is almost fully potty-trained now. He totally forced it upon us (shocking, I know), and began to refuse to wear diapers. He rarely has accidents, and has done great. We no longer buy diapers, and aside from the occassional accident from not getting to the potty fast enough, he does great in his little "Batman unda-wears" as he calls them. He is only two, and his teachers at the little daycare at the gym don't know what to do with him. Potty trained kids go in the next room up (the infant room doesn't have a potty in it), but he's not technically old enough to move up. It's definitely a little early, but he loves it, and if we don't have to buy diapers (ever again?!) then we are perfectly fine with that!

Owen
Owen is equally as cute, and saying adorable things as well. He's so grown up. He is really learning at a rapid pace right now. He LOVES for you to tell him how to spell everything we talk about, read (sound out) all of the words we encounter throughout each day, and if you tell him the letters in a word, he can write them on his own. It's amazing to see his brain develop, and watch the look on his face when he learns something new. He is a sponge. I've heard people refer to kids like that before, and it's so true. He listens to everything we say...even when we don't know he's listening...and he is absorbing everything around him.

I started asking him to read his story books to me at night (instead of me reading to him), and I was shocked at how much he knows. He can sound out words, and although he can't read a whole sentence on his own, he can figure out individual words if I just stay quiet and let him. He practices writing the alphabet on his dry-erase board, and loves to learn to write our names. As a baby I always knew Owen was going to be a smart kid, but he's blowing me away right now.

He also has such a sweet nature about him. He loves his brother so much, and takes such good care of him. Bodhi often says, "I miss Owen," when he is at school because they do everything together and really enjoy each other so much. Last weekend we bought two single beds, and put them in one room together. They now share Owen's old room, and Bodhi's old room is the "play room." We went through all of their toys, and then chose which half to donate. So, they now have enough room to play in an organized, thoughtful space, and it's working out great. They LOVE sleeping in the same room, and Kipper and I think it's so cute...we often go in two or three times after they've gone to sleep just to look at them in there together. They have these cute little night lights (one on each side), and they sleep on these little super hero pillows I made...it's so cute.

Kipper and I are trying to commit to taking Owen out for some alone time with each of us (alternating) one night a week. He is soaking up our attention, and loves to talk (non-stop) about his day, what he's learning, things he's curious about, etc. We just take him to dinner and sit with him one-on-one, and listen to what he has to say. I keep saying that every stage with these kids is cuter than the last, and it remains true.

They are both super curious about Santa right now...but Bodhi just talks about him as though he's this guy we know, totally unphased. Owen is asking real questions such as, "Where does Santa live? Is it a house? How do those reindeer get up in the sky? Is he gonna know that we are sleeping in Texas for Christmas? Can he really see me right now?" I can tell his wheels are turning about the logistics of this Santa thing...but he's holding on tight, and loves the idea of Santa bringing him toys, so he's going with it.

Funny quotes this month:

Me: "Owen, you look tired...do you want to take a nap today?"
Owen: "No mom, I'm allergic to sleeping." (very serious...no idea where he heard of being "allergic" to something, but he thought this was a legit answer. :)

***

Me: "Bodhi, what is your favorite food?"
Bodhi: "Ummm, uh...hospitable food." (At the hospital, when he woke from anesthesia, they gave him crackers, and he ate three packs! He told (not asked) the nurse to bring him more! He thinks the "hospital" is called the "hospitable")
Owen: "My favorite food is sammiches."

***

Owen and Bodhi were watching Toy Story 3, and after Buzz saves the train (B's fave part...he likes to watch it over and over), he looked over at Owen and said, "I wuv you Owen."

***

I was reading The Giving Tree to Owen, and after we were done, I said, "Isn't that a great book? Don't you love how it teaches us that no matter how much money we have, or how big our house is...that being together is the most important thing?" Owen replied, "Mom, does Spiderman know Santa?" (I tried! :)

***

Owen and Bodhi were playing super heros the other day, and for some reason Bodhi was over it, and wanted to do something else. So, I told Owen that I would be Batman for Bodhi. He slumped down, and with a pout on his face he said, "But you're a gore (aka "girl") mom, no thanks." (I get that a lot, no matter how hard I try to be an awesome super hero, it's just not the same.) :)

***

The other day Owen came up to me with a piece of paper and said, "Mom, I know dad is better at this, but can you make me a fighter jet out of this paper?" (he's right...Kipper is way better at this)

***

The boys were playing hide & seek a few days ago, and it was Bodhi's turn to count. I was unloading the dishwasher, and fully expected him to start mumbling a bunch of numbers, stumbling over the correct order. But he didn't...he stood in the corner, cupped his little hands over his eyes, and said, "one, toooo, free, fo, five, six, seben, ate, ny, tin! Ready-o-not, here I come!" I stood there shocked that he knew how to count to ten! We say it in front of him all of the time...but I had no idea he could do it on his own. I tried later that night to make him do it for Kipper...and he reverted back to counting like a normal two-year old (one, toooo, free, five, six, tin!") I haven't been able to get him to do it again...but at least I know it's in there somewhere!

***

It's so amazing to watch them everyday, listen to their little-kid conversations, and cuddle with them at night. We feel so blessed, and I wish we could freeze frame them right now. I recently read the book "Heaven Is For Real," and I can't get it out of my mind. It's about a little four-year-old boy who, during an emergency surgery, claims to his parents that he went to heaven for three minutes (based on a true story). He explains the most amazing things, and says he saw things he couldn't have seen because he was in surgery. It's an amazing book, and I couldn't put it down. Mostly, it's got me thinking about how confident and doubt-less kids are about what they believe in. What a wonderful world they live in...so sweet and innocent...with no reason to question their instincts. So raw and back to basics. They don't yet judge, doubt, love conditionally, etc...and I'm so grateful to get to spend my day with people like that!

Being a stay-at-home mom is not the easiest job in the world (gulp), but I always feel loved by my kids, and I am always amazed by them. Sure, there are times when I can't complete a thought or haven't taken a shower in three days...but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Can't wait for our roadtrip to Texas to spend the holidays with our friends and family...Texas or BUST!

Pics from this month...